Improvement in grain-binders



5 Sheets-Sheet 1 l. M. GHOUVEB.

Grain-Binder. NO. 159,176. Patentedlan.26,l875.

THE GRAPHIC CCLPHQTO LiTPL39$ PARK PLABEJVR 5Sheets--Sheet3. J. M.GRUUVER.

Grain-Binder.

No.l59,l76. I Patentedjan.26,l 875.

5 Sheets--Sheet 5.

j. M. ea ouvan. Grain-Binder.

NO. 59,176. Patented Jan. 26,1875.

IINITED STATES PATENT OFFTcn.

JOSEPH M. GROOVER, OF OXFORD, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH HIS RIGHTTO JAMES A. BROOKS, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN GRAIN-BINDERS.

S ecification forming part of Letters Patent No. 159,176, dated January26, 1875; application tiled October 21, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosEPH MARTIN GRoov- ER, of Oxford, in the county ofOakland and State of Michigan, have invented an Improvement inStraw-Binding Attachment to Harvesters, of which the following is aspecification:

The object of my invention is to provide an automatic or partiallyautomatic attachment to a reaping-machine, by means of which adouble-andtwisted straw band is made, twisted around each gavel, and theends of the band tucked in before discharging the bundle, afresh bandbeing made by the apparatus for the succeeding gavel while the precedingone is being banded, the operation of the apparatus being entirely underthe control of the driver, who is thus enabled to govern the size of thebundles. The invention consists essentially in three mechanisms thefirst of which separates the proper amount of straw, and with it makesthe doubled-and-twisted band; the second, which ties the band around thebundle; and the third, which tucks the ends of the bands to secure thebundle, and their combination with a harvester, one of whose pinionsdrives the machinery of said attachment.

Figure 1, Sheet 1, is an elevation of the rear or discharge end of theattachment, showing the band-carriers in the act of raising the band tobring it around the sides and bottom of the grain. Fig. 2 is a detail ofthe same, showin g the band brought around the grain ready to tie. Fig.3, Sheet 2, is ,an inverted plan of the attachment, with the bottomboard removed. Fig. 4 is a sectional side elevation of the band-former,the section being taken on the line a; a in Fig. 3. F g. 5, Sheet 3, isa side elevation of the attachment of the side next the reaper. Fig. 6is a plan of the tucking mechanism, showing the position of the parts atthe completion of the tucking process.

Fig. 7 is an elevation of the front end of the attachment, showingindetail the straw-divider. Fig. 8, Sheet 4, is an inverted plan, showingin detail, on an enlarged scale, the band-forming mechanism. Fig. 9 is ahorizontal section of the same. Fig. 10 is an elevation and section ofthe peculiar gear which rotates the band'griper a half-revolution ateach reciprocation thereof. Fig. 11 is an enlarged detail rear elevationof the band-carriers, showing the band ends raised and engaged withtheir holders on the ends of said carriers. Fig. 12 is an enlarged rearelevation of the mechanism which twists the ends of the encircling bandtogether. Fig. 13 is a plan of the same. Fig. 14, Sheet 5, is aperspective view of a portion of the bottom plate and the mechanism forcarrying the band back to the band-carriers. Fig. 15 is an invertedperspective view of the band-twisting mechanism.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all. thefigures.

In the drawings, A represents the near or left-hand side sill of theattachment, and A the right-hand one, both connected by end girts, whichconstitute its frame, which frame is secured to the right side of theharvesterframe, so as to bring the attachment in rear of thegram-platform, from which the grain passes over an inclined apron, B,directly in rear thereof (but at the front of the attachment) onto agrain-table, 13 To the under side of the frame A A is secured a bottomboard, B 0 represents a portion of the frame of the harvester proper,and to it the side of the attachment is secured. D is the drivingshaftof the attachment, and is so connected by a clutch with some part of theharvestergearing as that the driver can, with his foot, throw said shaftin or out of gear. At its inner end is a spur-gear, E, and alongside ita pulley, F, having a crank-pin, a, Fig. 3, on its inner face, to whichone end of a pitman, b, is strapped, the other end of which is pivotedto the side of a cross-head, c, sliding in a slot in the side of theframe-sill A. A link, d, Fig. 3, has one end pivoted to the saidcross-head, and the other to a dynamic lever, 0, whose outer end ispivoted to the frame 0 at e, and whose inner end is pivoted to a link,f, which connects it with a block, Gr, dovetailed in, and sliding in, adovetail Way, H, Fig. 7, secured to the under side of the grain-table inthe direction of its length. 9 is a shaft, transversely journaledthrough the block G, carrying on its inner end a spur-sector, h, keyedthereon, with a tail, h, projecting from one side, from which there is apendent hook, W. The sector is grooved in the plane of the hook, as seenin Fig. 10. Under the forward half of the grain table the hook k andgroove in the sector run on a flange or angle-iron, 2', Figs. 1, 3, and8, while on the rear end of the travel of the block G the sector engageswith a toothed rack, I, Figs. 3 and 8, which rotates the sec for h andshaft 9 a half-revolution, and on the forward stroke this motion of saidshaft and sector is reversed. On the shaft g, at the other side of theblock, a spur-gear, j, and bevel-gear j, cast in one piece, are sleevedthereon, with a spring spirallycoiled about said shaft in a recess insaid block, to throw them outwardly against a square head, formed on theouter end of said shaft g. Through the head 9 a shaft, 7c, islongitudinally journaled, with a bevelgear, j keyed thereon, which gearmeshes with, and receives motion from, the bevel-gear On the projectingend of the shaft 70 there is secured a flat rectan gular griping-plate,70 over the top and outer part of which there is secured a spring-bail,70 When the cross-head moves forward from the back end of its way thegriping-plate is spring side up, pointing to the rear. As the cross-headmoves forward the sector and its rack rotate the shaft 9 ahalf-revolution, brin g ing the griper to the front, when the gear jmeshes with a toothed rack, I, Figs. 3, 4, and 8, which causes said gearto rotate, and with it the griping-plate, which arrives under a slot inthe inclined apron B spring side up; but in the meantime the spring-bailk has been caught by a hook, 70 under the edge of the table, and liftedup, as seen in Fig. 4. Un der the apron B there is a platform, 13, Fig.3, bar ing a V-shaped notch opposite the line of travel of thegriping-plate. Just in front of the notch there is erected a horizontalrail, 1, with a parting-post, Z, in the middle, and a guard-post at eachend of the said rail, on which a portion of the fresh cut grain falls asthe main body moves back onto the graintable, under which there is hunga Y-shaped iron frame, m, by its longer arms, pulled back to hangpendent by a spiral spring, m, as seen in Fig. 7. There is a hook, m atthe end of this frame. There is also at one side of said frame an arm,which is caught by the end of the advancing cross-head, which throws upthe frame through the notch in the plate B into a horizontal position,as seen in Fig. 4, in which position it stays while the opera tive partsare out of gear.

When a bundle is to be handed the straw that has in the meantime runonto the griperplate is seized by the bail-spring as soon as the partsare set in motion, the post parting the straw drawn back by the griperinto two strands, which are thrown sidewise apart by the frame m. Thegriper, as it moves back,

rotates on the axis of its shaft 9, twisting the ends of the strandstogether, while their trailing ends pass on the outside of two arms, an, Fig. 14, now standing close together, each at the extremity of alever, J, pivoted to the bottom board, which, by mechanism hereinafterdescribed, sweeps outwardly, each arm a carrying its end of the strawband over a curved wire guide, 0, and laying it over one arm of aband-carrier, L, pivoted to the inner edge of a girt, L at the rear endof the frame, the griping-plate having in the meantime been re olved tothe rear.

The mechanism which operates the levers J J consists of an arm, Jsecured to the under side of the dynamic lever 0, outside the sill A,and is bent to pass below and sweep under the bottom board, B where itsextremity has pivoted to it a slotted bar, J Each lever J is connected,by a pendent stud, p, with one end of a radius-link, J both of saidlinks having their inner ends pivoted on a stud, p, pendent from ablock, J sliding in a central longitudinal slot in the bottom board, Bin which a pair of segmental slots are also cut to give play to thestuds 19, as seen in Fig. 14. The stud 19 also passes through the slotin the bar J which is sustained by a transverse pin and a washer, asseen in Fig. 3. Just before the arm J completes its rearward movementthe stud p isstruck by the end of the slot in said bar J and thus thelevers J are swept outwardly in line with the girt L When the arm movesforward again these levers J are swept around to the front and comenearly together.

One revolution of the driving-shaft D moves forward the griping-plate,takes the modicum of straw, twists the ends of the two strands together,and carries the band back ready to pass it around the gavel. Thedriving-shaft may now be thrown out of gear, if there be not grainenough to make a bundle lying on and projecting over the rear edge ofthe table.

The band thus made of two strands'is of sufficient length to reacharound and tie the bundle of grain.

M M are two standard-plates erected on the sills A A, partiallyoverlapping the rear edge of the grain-table, and are connected neartheir top ends by a girt, M, from the center of which is suspended avertical shaft, N, journaled in a bearing in the said girt, below whichit is provided with a bevelgear, N At its lower end there is secured ahorizontal bar, N at the center, its ends being slotted to serve as jawsto receive the ends of the straw band, as seen in Fig. 13, where theyare held by two hooks, g, each pivoted on a shaft, q ,whose upper end isjournaled through a brace, g projecting from the shaft N, and bentoutwardly, so that as they sweep around with the bar N they will, whensaid bar lies across the rear end of the machine, catch against thependent studs 1, which will remove the hooks from across the mouths ofthe slots in the bar N to allow the bands to enter. In this position thedriving-gear is idle. A spring, g*, at each edge of the bar N 3 throwsthe hooks across the slots, and secures the ends of the band therein.The shafts q are not equidistant from the shaft N, so that their upperends will not both catch on the pendent studs Q3 at the first half ofthe revolution of the shaft N, but one will catch, and the other passunder, until the revolution is complete, when both will catch on theirstuds. A shaft, 0, is journaled in bearings along the top of the girt M,with a bevel-gear, N at the outer end to actuate the pinion N its innerend overhanging the inner standard, M, with a clutch-pulley, O sleevedon it, which may slide along to engage with a clutch-box, O keyed on itsend. A belt or chain running on the pulley F gives motion to theclutchpulley 0 When the band has been made, as described, and its endsextended, they (the ends) lie on two jointed band carriers, L, hinged toa projection at the front of the girt L. The carriers each have arectangular socket-head, L At the rear side of the bottom of each socketthere is journaled a bell-crank, r, the upper end of which is bent overthe top face of the carrier at its extremity, where it has secured to itaclamp-plate, W. A spring, r acting against one arm of the bell-crank,throws down the plate r against the carrierhead, while a lever, L hasits lower end pivoted to the other end of the bell-crank. The upper halfof this lever is slotted to receive and slide upon a pin projecting fromthe rear side of the girt M at the end thereof. The lever L has a link,L pivoted to it, which link is. pivoted to the lower end of a lever, Lwhose upper end is pivoted to said girt M. A link, L is pivoted to thelever L a little above its ,lower end, the other end being pivoted to abell-crank, L", pivoted at its angle to the middle of the rear edge ofthe girt M, the other and like system of levers being in like mannerpivoted to another arm of said bell-crank, to whose third arm or angle abar, P, is pivoted, which extends to the left far enough to couple witha frame, P, which straddles a groove in the hub of the clutchpulley Oand is finally pivoted at its front end to the edge of the grain-table.A handlever, P is connected with the frame P and serves not only to drawthe clutch-pulley 0 into gear with its clutch-box to rotate the shafts ON and band-twister bar N but first draws up the band-carriersL L, withthe ends of the band which have been caught under the clamp-plates rwhich, from the weight of thelevers L on their longer arms, have beenthrown up to allow the ends of said band to pass between them and theheads of said carriers. As soon, however, as the levers have commencedto raisethe band-carriers, the clamp-plates are depressed and hold theends of the band firmly, as seen in Fig. 11, grasping or enveloping thebundle, as seen in Fig. 2, and passing them into the slots at the endsof the bar N when the further movement of the handle 1? throws theclutch of the shaft 0 into gear, when the hooks on the bar N are thrownby their springs around the ends of the band. to hold them in the slotswhile said bar twists them together, thus completing another step in theprocess.

There now remains the process of tucking the twisted ends of the bandunder the band itself, to keep them from untwisting, which I accomplishin the followin g maun er A cranked shaft, Q, has one end journaled in ahanger under the sill A, and the other through a vertically -slottedhanger, s, pendent from the frame 0, with a treadle, Q, pivoted at theside thereof, to raise said shaft until a pinion, E, keyed thereon isbrought into mesh with the spurgear E on the driving-shaft. The crank ofthe shaft Q passes through a slot in a vibrating lever, B, pivoted to ablock or stud, t, on the inner side of the sill A, which lever B isconnected by a link, It, with the left end of a shaft, S, on which it issleeved. This shaft is keyed through a block, a, whose shank isjournaled in a horizontal slot in a segment, T, projecting from thestandard to the front, and the other end is journaled in a bearing, a,so hung to the other standard as to allow it a radial movement in thehorizontal plane. The shaft S has a peculiar curved hook, S secured toits middle, directly under the bar N The outer or right-hand end of theshaft S has a spiral spring, o, attached to it and to its bearing a, insuch a manner as to resist torsion of the said shaft that would roll itshook to the rear. A spring, 1;, spirally coiled around and secured tothe other end of the shaft S and to the block 20, tends to rotate thelatter to the left, but is kept from turning by one edge resting againstthe rear edge of a recess in the standard, and by the front edge bearingagainst a cam, 10, on the upper side of the rear part of the slot in thesegment T. A stop, S secured to and resting and sliding upon the topedge of said segment, keeps the said shaft from turning, so as to throwthe hook toward the front.

The band being around the bundle, and having its ends twisted together,the twisted ends are tucked under the band by depressing the treadle,which throws the pinion E into gear, and vibrating the lever It, whichthrows the end of the shaft S toward the front. As the block it passesunder the cam 10, the shaft is compelled to make a quarter-revolution onits axis, and as the twisted ends of the band lie in the hook S, thesame tucks them under-the body of the band and draws them to the front,until the block it has passed to the front of the cam, when the shaft isturned back by the spring v to its normal position, thus releasing theends of the band from the hook, when the bundle is discharged. Thedriver releases the treadle Q, when a strong spiral spring, U, attachedto the lower the shaft S,

end of the lever B, pulls the shaft S and attachments back to theirnormal positions.

While the mechanism has been in gear to tie the bundle, the band-formingdevices have gone forward, taken the proper quantity of grain, made aband, and laid it on the bandcarrlers, ready to tie another bundle.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The driving-shaft D, pulley F, crank-pin a, pitman b, cross-head 0,link at, lever 0, link f, block G, ways H, shaft g, hooked sector h,flange i, racks I 1, gears j j shaft 70, griping-plate k spring-bail 70hook 70 rail 1, parting-post 1, frame an M and spring m constructed andcombined with the sills A A, table B bottom board, B platform 13, andadapted to be driven by the mechanism of a reaper for forming a strawband, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the lever e, of the levers J J J J J J, rods nn, and guides 0 0, for carrying the ends of the band to the carriers LL, substantially as described.

.7 A V s U 59 1 3. The combination of the jointed carriers L L, eachprovided with a bell-crank, r, clampplate 0", and spring 4*, the leversL L L L, bell-crank L and rod 1?,with the frame P and lever P forwrapping the band around the bundle, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the shaft 0, clutchpulley O clutch-box Overticalshaft N, gears N N slotted arms N hooks q, shafts q studs (1?,and springs 4*, with the pulley F, for twisting the ends of the band,substantially as described.

5. The shaft S,hook S ,bearings mt, springs v '0, segment T, cam 10,treadle Q, lever B, cranked shaft Q, and pinion E, combined with thespur-wheel E and standards M M, for tucking the ends of the band underitself, substantially as described.

JOS. M. GROOVER.

Witnesses:

H. F. EBERTS, O. E. HUEsTIs.

